The Thrill of the Chase
by apiegohome
Summary: It has to end a few times first for Axel and Roxas to finally have their new beginning. Reincarnation fic - 10 lives. AkuRoku
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I always love when other peeps do these kinds of fics, so I thought I'd have a go, too. The ten lives all have a common connection to each other, and it'll be a wild ride, but hold on! I'm a sucker for happy endings. I never bother with warnings – you're all big kids, I'm sure. Enjoy :)

* * *

 **One.**

"Come on, Rox, it'll be fun!" Axel laughed as the traffic lights in front of them changed to green and he stepped so hard on the accelerator the rear tyres spun. Damn, he loved the smell of burnt rubber.

Roxas, sitting in the passenger seat beside him didn't look convinced. "It's hard enough trying to save money, let alone ditching work and going on a road-trip across two states for a two hour, overpriced concert with watered down beer – filled to the brim with annoying, teenybopper assholes, who only know the one song."

Axel swerved harshly, just managing to avoid mowing down a woman jogging on the side of the road wearing gym gear, of all things. Why the hell was she _exercising_ at ten o'clock at night? His eyes narrowed. _Fitness freaks –_ he'd never understand…

Shifting into a higher gear, Axel upped the k's a notch. They weren't really in any rush to be anywhere, but having just finished work they were both keen to get home. Those cones weren't gonna smoke themselves! Flooring it through a yellow light, his attention flicked back to his friend beside him. "You used to be cool, man. A year ago you would've sold your first born child to see Brian Johnson rocking it out live!"

"Yeah, yeah," Roxas flicked his cigarette ash out the window and took a small drag. "Shit changes – houses don't just pay for themselves."

Axel snorted, veering dangerously close to a wheelie bin that happened to be too close to the kerb. He wanted to hit it, just because the owner deserved it for not dragging it back in.

" _Come on, Rox!_ Paying off a house in this day and age? You'd have to sell both of your kidneys, and if you've got no kidneys, who will I have to drink with then?" He scarfed his way around a tight corner, confidently knowing these roads like the back of his hand. He could probably drive home blindfolded if he had to, and not get lost once.

"Jesus, would you slow down a bit? I fucken' swear your driving gets worse every time I'm in the car with you." Roxas fumbled to get a better hold on his smoke before bracing himself against the car door frame just in time as Axel took another corner on two wheels, the tyres screeching through the quiet streets.

Axel just laughed and shot Roxas a sly, teasing smile. "Guess I can't help it – you _do_ drive me a little bit crazy."

Axel was still watching as Roxas settled back into his seat, and hurriedly turned to look out the window. If he'd been able to see Roxas' face right then, Axel knew he would most likely be a little bit flushed.

Still grinning over his perfectly executed, _terrible_ pun, and successfully putting that heat in Roxas' cheeks, Axel went to slap on his indicator to turn right, but flicked his windscreen wipers on instead. He ended up turning left anyway. He shrugged. Hey, at least he'd tried!

Roxas bought the still glowing stub of cigarette back up to his lips and sucked it right down to the filter. He flicked it out the window a second later, the embers bursting and skittering on the road far behind them. "We got any food at home? Maybe we should stop at Maccas."

Axel's grin widened at Roxas' blatant attempt at changing the subject before it relaxed into his signature smirk. He was just opening his mouth to answer when the lights coming up in front of them turned red.

" _Shit_ ," he hissed, slamming on the brakes. They managed to stop just a little bit over the line. No worries! They'd had plenty of time.

"Oh, my _fucking_ God, Ax!" Roxas groaned, throwing his head back against the head rest, burying his hands deep into his unruly hair. "Puh- _lease_ don't kill us! I just spent half a pay check buying _Fallout 4 –_ I kinda want a chance to play it!"

Axel rolled his eyes, leaning over to muss a hand through Roxas' messy blond spikes. " _Alright_ , keep your skirt on." Moving his hand from Roxas' head, he started shuffling around in the centre console, digging himself out a cigarette of his own. Scrabbling around for his lighter in the mess of receipts and burger wrappers on the floor, he just got the end lit, right when the lights turned green again. He set off at a more sedate pace this time.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll shout you Maccas," Axel said, taking a drag and blowing the smoke out through his nose. "We should get more for later, too. We're gonna have the _meanest_ munchies."

"You know what would _really_ make me feel better?" Roxas murmured quietly, something in his tone making Axel's hand twitch sporadically along the steering wheel.

Roxas turned to face him, his blue eyes serious. "Tell me why you kissed me the other night."

 _Oh, shit._

Axel sighed and chuffed hard at the smoke held between his lips. He'd kind of been expecting this a lot sooner to be honest, but knowing that wasn't going to make this conversation any easier.

Axel indicated correctly and turned left. They were about a block away from McDonalds now with a few more sets of traffic lights between here and there. He would've rather preferred to talk about this at home, but really, it was his own fault for leaving it the way that he had. They'd been friends for years and he'd never said a thing. Of course, Roxas would be confused. Axel just hoped he wasn't about to be rejected…

"I know we've been friends for ages, Rox, and I guess the other night I smoked a bit too much to keep hiding it, but…" He looked over at his friend, his expression wistful with just a little bit of hope shining in his eyes. Roxas was staring at him intently, his lips slightly parted. Axel could see Roxas was just as nervous as he was. He was sure they'd been thinking the same thing for a while now.

"To be honest, I've always – "

Roxas' eyes flew unbelievably wide.

"AXEL, LOOK OUT!"

A gasp of air stuttering past his lips, Axel stomped on the brake, just as he whipped around in his seat to look out the window. The cigarette fell from his lips.

It was too late.

The last thing he saw were the glaring lights of the semi hurtling through the intersection _straight_ towards them, his last cognitive thought being –


	2. Chapter 2

**Two.**

" _Fuck…"_

Roxas groaned tiredly and rolled over in bed, flinging his covers away from his sweat drenched skin. It was that damned, same dream again – the one where he was riding in a car with a wild looking redhead he'd never met, and they ended up getting cleaned up by a truck.

It never changed, and he'd been having it for a number of years now; always randomly, with no known pattern he could decipher. He'd had some pretty wild tasting chinese last night, so maybe that was the cause…

Sitting up slowly and running a hand across his clammy forehead, Roxas sighed wearily and began shuffling his way over to the side of the bed. His alarm clock glowed in the darkness, the numbers there informing him that it was just past six in the morning. He was awake an hour early for work _again._

Getting to his feet, he made his way down the hall and into the bathroom. There was no point worrying himself over something he'd never understand. It wasn't the first time he'd dreamt about the mysterious man named Axel, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

-0-

Now smartly dressed for work in his dress shirt and pants, his suit jacket hanging behind him in the backseat, Roxas drove twenty minutes across town to where he spent the majority of his day. _Almost every day._ He glanced down at the tachometer and frowned as he noticed that his fuel gauge was nearly on the deadline. Huh. He must have forgotten to fill up yesterday. He didn't have to be at work for another fifteen minutes so he decided he had time.

Indicating off the main road and into the nearest servo he came across, Roxas pulled up at the pump and turned the ignition off. He popped the fuel cap from the little lever down by his feet and climbed out of his car. Lifting the fuel nozzle from its receptacle, he placed it inside the fill pipe and squeezed the handle. Feeling the nozzle lightly vibrating in his hand as it began to dispense, Roxas leaned his free elbow up against the roof of his car; his thoughts already wandering back to his recurring dream. He didn't take any notice of a tall, lanky man entering the 7-11 in front of him.

Just because he didn't understand it, that didn't mean he didn't wonder. He'd initially thought that maybe he'd seen the guy in a movie, or maybe on the street, but no matter how many times he wracked his brain, he could never remember seeing 'Axel' anywhere. He'd once read in a magazine that your brain could never show you something that you hadn't already seen, so what the hell did it mean, then? He'd never gotten into all that wishy-washy past life crap, but maybe…there was some truth behind it, after all.

 _Maybe,_ he'd known Axel in a past life…

A loud string of shouting, and a sudden crash made him look up with a start, his eyes immediately pinpointing the drama that was unwittingly unfolding right in front of him. Through the large, plated glass windows of the 7-11 Roxas could see there was a tall man with a black hoodie pulled over his face inside the servo, and he was grappling over the service counter with the attendant.

Roxas's fingers leapt off the handle, halting the flow of fuel instantly.

"What the…" he murmured, his eyes locked on the tall man inside, who lunged wildly and smashed something small and greyish in colour across the attendant's face.

Holy _shit_ , the place was getting _robbed!_

Having no idea what to do, his body frozen in place, Roxas could only keep watching in shock as the man turned from the counter and came barrelling out of the front doors. One of his gloved hands had a fistful of cash. The man was running now, and Roxas just kept standing there, but for a brief, mind-blowing second his eyes met with the intense, emerald green of the man's own, hiding just underneath his hood.

 _It couldn't be…_

Roxas choked, his lungs locking up the breath in his chest. He reached out a hand.

"Ax…Axel?"

There was a loud burst of sound off to his right that oddly reminded him of someone sharply smacking a piece of corrugated iron with a lump of wood, and the next thing he knew, the man who was running with his fists full of cash was going down, down, _down –_ pitching forward violently, his face slamming into the concrete ground.

The blood was rushing in Roxas' ears and that's all he could hear as he turned his head minutely to the side. The 7-11 attendant was standing there, shaking like a leaf with a glock held in between his trembling hands. He was only a kid, maybe still in school…he'd given chase with the thief's handgun, and he hadn't even thought to pause – to fully _take in_ what he was about to do…

Roxas was moving before he was even aware of it, his feet stumbling out from underneath him, everything else forgotten. He reached the stranger that was now lying motionless on the ground in front of him, and pressed a shaking hand to the back of the man's head. There was blood everywhere.

" _Fuck…fuck!"_ Roxas screamed out, the blood seeping through his fingers. Gently he rolled the man over to face him, and it felt like a knife was just thrust into his chest.

It was him. The man from his dreams.

Beautiful, emerald green eyes starred up at him, long, vibrantly red hair framing a pale, painfully familiar face. Axel's two dash tattoos on each of his cheeks stood out vividly against his deathly, white skin.

He was still alive, but just barely, a death rattle crawling up his throat. Axel stared up at him, his eyebrows furrowed in what Roxas could only take as confusion.

"…" Axel tried to speak.

"You… _You fucking idiot!"_ Roxas grated out, his tears falling on Axel's face, his hand still uselessly trying to stem the man's blood.

" _Ro..xas…?"_

Roxas' eyes widened in disbelief. This whole situation was _completely_ insane, but Axel _knew_ him, just like he _knew_ Axel! It slowly dawned on him, that maybe he'd been right all along. He never had met Axel before, but his brain had been trying to tell him something…

He was supposed to have found him again…before it was too late.

And now… _now…!_

Roxas sobbed brokenly, as he cradled Axel's head against his chest; the first siren's shattering the calm, quiet of the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** This is my personal favourite :D

* * *

 **Three.**

Adjusting his cummerbund for the _umpteenth_ time, Axel stood in front of the floor length mirror and grimly scrutinised his appearance. The sharp pain radiating from the base of his skull throbbed terribly, his cluster headache not easing in the slightest. He'd already slammed down two Panadol and 400mg of Ibuprofen, but nothing had taken the edge off yet.

…If he didn't know better, he would've thought he'd been shot in the back of the head…

His eyes sliding down his thin, but muscular frame, Axel took in the pale blue of his tuxedo jacket, and the sky blue of his bow tie and cummerbund with a growing sense of dread. His dress pants were black at least, but blue just looked like _absolute shit_ on him and Xion knew it. With his vibrant red hair and naturally pale skin, to say the colours of his suit were clashing was an understatement. There was just simply nothing he could do about it.

He wanted to go home. This day was already going to be hard enough…

Axel started slightly and collected his thoughts as he heard the door to the dressing room open and close behind him. He caught sight of pretty blue eyes in the mirror and inwardly sighed. He'd been wondering if she was going to come see him.

"You're looking handsome," Xion smiled over at him from her position in front of the door. "As always, I should add."

Axel offered her a strained smile. "Come on Xi, we both know I look like a performing clown at a children's party, there's no need for the theatrics."

Xion threw back her head and laughed; a pleasant tinkling sound. "Okay, so blue isn't your colour, but it's only for one day right? You can change when we get to the reception."

He nodded his understanding, his fingers near itching to have another go at his cummerbund. There was a small, comfortable silence, and Axel's smile turned more genuine, his green eyes warm.

"…You look beautiful, Xion…Rox is gonna cry when he sees you walking down that aisle."

Xion hummed and looked down at the floor, a small, soft smile gracing her lips. She leaned back into the door, her gloved hands clasped behind her back. The skirts of her long, shimmering wedding dress pooled around her petite frame.

She laughed softly again. "Knowing what a sweetheart he is, he probably will…" She looked up at him, her eyes so big and impossibly blue.

"…but what about you?"

Axel's heart skipped a beat, and his headache gave a particularly sharp throb as he let her softly spoken words wash over him. For a second his mask fell, but he quickly regained his composure, his smile carved in stone on his face.

"I…probably will, too. It's pretty easy getting swept up in the moment."

"That's not what I meant." Xion was moving closer now, her dress swishing prettily around her. Her eyes never left Axel's. "You don't need to hide it from me, Axel. I've known about it for a long time."

Now he was definitely beginning to feel nervous. "I'm not sure what you mean…?"

Xion's face took on a cool expression as she came to a stop right in front of him. She rolled her eyes. "Stop playing coy – I know you're in love with him."

Axel's entire body went impossibly still, his heart thundering its way up and into his throat.

"No one else has seen it, but I have," she whispered, "I see how you look at him, how you stay close to him, or subtly touch him; how much he means more to you, than anyone else in your life… _I know…"_

"Xion – I –!" Axel tugged at his wayward spikes in desperation as she continued to stare up at him, her expression carefully blank. They both knew she was speaking the truth, and there was nowhere left for him to hide. He took a deep breath.

"It's true…what you say, but I know he's never felt the same. He loves you, Xion and maybe – maybe that makes me a little sad, but you guys are both my best friends and…if you two are happy together…then I can be the same."

Xion did not return his hesitant smile. "Do you want to know _how_ I knew?"

Axel's face fell as he minutely shifted away from her. This was a side to Xion he had never seen before.

"How…" He whispered down to her.

"I noticed because for the longest time now, I've only been looking at _you."_

The meaning of her words was not lost on Axel as the realisation slowly dawned on him. His eyes easily conveying his shock, he stepped away from her, shaking his head. Xion, her shoulders now set with determination just followed after him, her small hands grasping at the lapels of his suit jacket.

"I _knew_ you were in love with him, because _I'm_ in love with _you_."

"No…"

She shook him slightly. "I am. But it's not too late! Call off the wedding, Axel! It should be _you_ standing up there waiting for me – and not as the best man!" Her eyes were so wild, _begging_ for him to agree.

This was insane.

He tried to gently pry her fingers off of him. "I can't _do_ that, Xi…If you've known how long I've loved him, then you _know_ I can't stop this. He's in love with _you_ – it'll break his heart!"

Xion's eyes slowly filled with tears, but didn't spill over. She refused to let go of him.

"Can't you love me like that, Ax? We've been friends for just as long as you and Roxas have. What does he have that I don't?"

Axel shook his head again, his hands closing around hers still fisted in his jacket. "I'm sorry…" he whispered, the pain in his heart eclipsing the dull throb in his head.

"…I've only ever loved you like I would a sister."

Xion gasped and tore herself away from him, nearly falling over in the many layers and folds of her lavishly sequined dress.

"Xion…!"

"Don't." She bit out, turning away from him, her small shoulders trembling.

Axel just stood there watching her, his chest lightly heaving. Tears burned at the corners of his eyes. Everything had been going fine, and then now, it had all blown up in his face.

A moment passed that felt like forever before Xion finally turned back to face him, and what he saw there written on her face made the words he'd planned to say die on his lips.

Xion's expression was hard, her eyes cold. "Fine. If that's the way it is, then _that's_ the way it is."

She smiled then, but it was empty and cruel. Axel felt inexplicably afraid. Somehow he just _knew._ He knew what she was going to do.

"If I can't have _you_ , then you can't have _him._ "


	4. Chapter 4

**Four.**

"Married! I can't _fucken' believe_ we just _got married!_ "

Roxas laughed and staggered drunkenly on his feet as he grabbed at the tall redhead helping to keep him upright, and unceremoniously shoved his tongue in his mouth.

"Fuck yeah, we did," Roxas breathed onto Axel's grinning lips. "Now shut up and get your shit together, so we can make it back to the hotel without being eaten _alive."_

They smiled at each other sloppily, pressing their bodies closer together as they swayed in time to a beat only they could hear.

"I love it when you talk like that baby – when you order me around," Axel growled, rolling his hips into Roxas, held so perfectly against him.

" _Mmm,_ " Roxas moaned, allowing Axel's lips, and tongue, and teeth to ghost deliciously down the side of his neck. _Fuck, that felt good._ "I better put that big mouth of yours to better use then…"

Axel just laughed.

Stumbling down the aisle of the shitty little shotgun wedding chapel, Axel pulled Roxas firmly against his side and draped an arm over his shoulders. Fumbling with his own set of sunglasses, Roxas slid the shades over his eyes and looked up at his lover to make sure he was doing the same. It was kind of an _industry joke,_ but they still put the sunglasses on anyway. Not that they would really help anything, except maybe hide the easily discernible drugged out, fucked up gleam in their eyes. They certainly weren't an inconspicuous pair…

There wasn't a single person alivewho didn't know who Roxas and Axel were.

Not bothering to prepare himself, Roxas kicked open the double doors of the chapel, and Axel immediately started pulling them through the crowd of people waiting for them. They were at the centre of a whirlwind of flashing cameras, grabbing hands and shouted questions as they slowly, but surely, pushed their way through to the limo that was still waiting on the street for them.

" _Roxas! Roxas! Over here! Have you and Axel finally tied the knot!?"_

" _Axel! How long have you been out of rehab? Roxas, are you pre-empting a relapse?"_

" _Where are your wedding rings, guys? Is Xion happy for the two of you – how do you think she'll take this?"_

Roxas smirked and ignored all of it. What the hell did he care? Axel and him were on top of the world.

No one could touch them.

-0-

Roxas pressed his index finger to his left nostril and bent towards the glass table in front of him. In one, long, drawn out snort he'd sucked the entire line right up his nose.

"Have you no _class,_ Rox? Where's the hun-gee?" Axel said, sitting beside him on the floor. He waved a hundred dollar note in front of Roxas' face.

" _Fuck_ the dollar bills _man –_ just get it up there." Roxas demanded, lying back on the floor and just _feeling so awesome._ All of his body was tingling with energy, his pupils just a little bit dilated, and his eyes gleaming feverishly bright. He listened, a manic smile spread across his face as Axel snorted two lines in rapid succession before suddenly seizing Roxas's forearms and hauling him to his feet. Roxas laughed and allowed Axel to pull him into a frenzied, clumsy waltz. They twirled around and around the opulent, mildly trashed hotel room, their breaths gasping out between them as the room shimmered and spun.

" _I fucking love you, Ax_!" Roxas yelled at the top of his lungs. Axel laughed and attempted to pick him up princess style, but only half succeeded, before throwing him down on the bed. They had their own music playing (to hell with modesty), Axel's sexy voice belting out one of their hit songs; Roxas shredding on his electric guitar, and Xion on bass. They were the biggest thing since _The Rolling Stones,_ and Roxas had never felt so _alive_! What did it matter if Xion wasn't talking to the both of them? Who gave a shit if Axel had knocked her up? He certainly didn't, and now that he and the man of his dreams were tied at the knot, there was nothing that could bring him down.

"I wanna make love to you, baby…" Axel was murmuring into his collarbone, both of their chests bare and Roxas' skinny jeans painfully tight. Axel was kissing and licking down his chest, his long fingers fumbling with the button on Roxas' jeans, his tongue and lips mouthing wetly over his clothed erection.

Roxas moaned and writhed, his anticipation building. Sex with Axel was _amazing,_ but sex with Axel on _coke,_ was _out of this world…_

Palming Roxas' cock through his jeans, Axel slid back up Roxas' body and shoved a cigarette between his lips. Staring heatedly into each other's eyes Axel flicked open his zippo lighter and lit it, Roxas not breaking their eye contact in the slightest as he breathed in sharply and blew the smoke out passed his lips. Axel plucked the cigarette from Roxas' mouth and brought it to his own for a quick drag. Blowing the smoke at the ceiling he sealed their mouths together, kissing Roxas out of coherence.

"Don't go away…" Axel murmured with a smirk. Sticking the smoke back between Roxas' lips, he got up off the bed, and hurried back over to the little glass table. Three quick snorts later and Axel was drunkenly stumbling his way back to the bed, the wattage of his smile near blinding.

Roxas' senses still sharp, noticed the change in Axel's demeanour instantly. Axel's eyes were unfocussed and the cheeky smile was rapidly slipping, his chest jerking up and down with his quick, staccato breaths.

"Ax, you okay?"

Axel groaned and clutched at his stomach weakly. His eyes slid shut.

" _Fuck!"_ Roxas swore vehemently, throwing himself off the bed and over to him.

He caught Axel just as he started sinking to the floor, tremors already coursing through his body as his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Hold on, babe! I'm calling you an ambulance!"

Roxas knew he had to keep calm, had to keep himself in check, but he _knew_ he was losing it; the cocaine in his system not helping. He left Axel shaking and trembling on the floor while he searched frantically for his damn iPhone. It wasn't anywhere. He couldn't even find Axels, and they'd thrown the hotel phone out the window as soon as they'd arrived.

He looked round at Axel wildly, panic really starting to set in when he saw how far gone he already was. Violent convulsions were shaking through his thin frame, his limbs jerking and twitching grotesquely. Foam was bubbling past his open lips.

Choking down a sob, Roxas flung himself down on the floor, and gathered Axel's shaking form into his arms. Living the way that they did, neither Axel nor Roxas were a stranger to overdoses, but maybe they'd always been lucky. They'd always managed to get help in time…

Until now.

Axel suddenly went very still, his whole body going lax in Roxas' trembling arms.

All Roxas could hear was Axel warbling over the sound system, and all he could see was Axel's slack, unresponsive face staring up at him from his lap.

Roxas screamed.

He screamed, and _screamed,_ until sounding absurd even to his own ears, he started _laughing._

"You're always running away from me…" He stroked Axel's wild hair out of his eyes, wiped away the foam drying on his pale blue lips. "I finally get you to marry me, and then you _fucking die."_

Laying Axel's head as gently as he could back down on the carpeted floor, Roxas stood and squared his shoulders. His eyes were impossibly dry. He zeroed in on the half a kilo of blow still innocently sitting on top of the little glass table.

"Till death do us part, my _ass._ Hold on, Ax – I'm coming with you."

He didn't know how much he ended up taking, and he didn't care. Roxas sat on the floor with Axel's head once again cradled in his lap, his fingers running through his vibrant, red hair. He smiled. They'd definitely had fun together while it had lasted.

He idly noted the television mounted on the wall in front of them was playing reruns of CSI: Miami. It wasn't exactly the last thing he wanted to see. He had always hated that show.

Roxas managed to lean down and press a lingering kiss to Axel's lips, right before he finally felt himself slipping away…


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** I have never really watched any CSI shows…so I apologise for any discrepancies.

* * *

 **Five.**

"So…what have we got here?"

"Just ye ol' run-of-the-mill murder suicide. Nothing to write home about," Kairi murmured, flashing Axel a wry grin before snapping on a pair of gloves and grabbing up her blood collection kit.

Axel lifted his own kit from the floor, and followed her into the apartment, both of them making a beeline for the bathroom down the hallway on the left. Axel had already gotten the gist of the situation from the responding officer, Riku, downstairs. It really was just a classic murder suicide as horribly blasé as that sounded.

The Police had been called to the apartment building around three in the morning with multiple reports coming in of a domestic in progress. They'd responded too late, arriving just fifteen minutes later to find the 26 year old male stabbed to death in the shower. The person responsible, who happened to be the male's de facto partner, was found slumped over the toilet seat next to him.

"It's not pretty," Kairi threw over her shoulder as she pushed the bathroom door open. "It looks like she snuck up on him while he was showering. Stabbed him in the back a few times, then turned the knife on herself."

She stepped into the small, garishly blue bathroom, and moved to the side to let Axel enter too. It definitely wasn't pretty. The male was slumped on the tiled floor of the shower, his back facing them, and Axel could already roughly calculate eight, maybe nine, gaping stab wounds along the man's neck, shoulders and ribs. Someone had obviously shut the shower water off long ago, but there was still a lot of blood and water pooling around his still form. Axel noted the man's blond hair had already started to dry into a tangled, spiky mess.

To the left of the shower was the toilet, and draped over the seat like a broken marionette, sat a woman, her head lolled back on the cistern. She'd slit her own throat, and her hands and feet were both covered in blood. This was most definitely the male's blood, as the short work she'd done on herself was actually quite neat in comparison to what she had done to her partner. There was a large carving knife lying by her bare feet, its handle and blade stained dark with thick, congealed blood.

Axel wondered what had gone on here. What had possessed this woman to snap?

Practically reading his thoughts, Kairi didn't leave him in suspense. "It's a closed case. The male's laptop wasn't password protected and Riku already went through it, including his search history. He was looking for someone almost obsessively online. The girlfriend's gone, 'classic jealous psycho' when she's found out about it, and done him in. The police report also mentions her screaming about ' _cheating_ ', and ' _latent homosexuality'_. Sounds like a real piece of work."

"You're telling me," Axel nodded, setting down his evidence collection kit. He'd already taken care of two similar investigations earlier today, and he was feeling pretty tired and hungry, and frankly, just a little bit bored.

"Seems all pretty straight forward. Let's get this done. After the day I've had, I'll be needing a drink."

"Oh?' Kairi questioned, moving over to the woman and carefully placing a little yellow marker with a number '1' on it next to the carving knife. "Trouble in paradise?"

Axel grimaced as he dug out a pair of disposable gloves and tugged them on. He sighed heavily. "Just the usual, you know? …Everything's _got_ to be a drama."

Kairi smiled and said nothing, moving a few more numbered markers next to some blood splatter on the far wall and floor.

Axel retrieved his digital camera and began clicking, focussing on the scene at large, then zooming into the stab wounds on the male's back.

"Don't get me wrong, Saix is a nice enough guy when he's not stressed out, but…since he's a chef – he's pretty much always stressed out."

He shuffled closer, careful not to disturb the blood on the floor as he took some close up shots of each individual stab wound. They really were rough. The crazy chick must've really taken him by surprise.

"That sounds about right," Kairi answered distractedly as she was busy swabbing blood off the floor, the woman's hands and feet, and of course, the carving knife. "He's pretty lucky to have you. I don't know why you put up with that."

Axel shrugged, even though he knew Kairi couldn't see it. "Familiarity makes people do crazy things." Wasn't that the understatement of the century…

Kairi just snorted in response.

"You done over there or what? You ready to move this guy?" Axel continued, finishing up with the photographs and putting his camera away.

"Yep! All done. Just let me grab a couple of body bags."

While Kairi hurried out of the room to go retrieve the bags, Axel fiddled with the zipper on his white examiner suit, and stared over at the crumpled body of the man. For some reason his eyes were just continuously drawn there, and not to the stab wounds either.

Maybe it was something about the curve of his jawline, or perhaps the unruly blond hair, but the guy seemed awfully familiar. Axel turned and looked at the woman more closely, too.

…Oddly enough, she was familiar, too.

"Got them!" Kairi sang, hefting one of the bags into the hallway and through the bathroom door. She looked over at the woman, and then at the man. "She'll be easy. Let's get blondie here out of the way."

Moving forward, Axel stepped into the crime scene and gently pulled the man away from the wall, intent on laying him down flat. Dulled, blue eyes stared blankly up at him and Axel jerked to a stop, his heart thudding hard against his ribs.

"…No way…"

"What is it? Do you know him?" Kairi was peering over his shoulder now, looking down into the young man's lifeless face.

Axel paused, collecting his thoughts as he told himself to remember to breathe.

"I…knew him once." He laughed bitterly. "Literally a lifetime ago…."

He couldn't believe it – he _seriously could not believe it._ Ever since he was 16, he'd been looking for a boy named Roxas – _Number XIII._ He knew who he'd been in a life that was no longer his own, and he knew about the promise his other self and this boy had made each other – that they would meet again…in the next life. He looked over at the woman draped over the toilet and he realised with a shock that it was Xion. Her hair was a little different, her face horribly distorted in death, but there was no mistaking it was her…so then, if these two had found each other again in this life….why then, had Xion killed Roxas, and then herself?

"Hey Kairi? Who was this guy searching for online? Was there a name?"

Kairi gave him an odd look, her expression turning wary. "Yeah there was, it was…'Axel'. He was just searching for 'Axel' over and over. Through Google, Facebook, Instagram – everywhere. Never any last names if I remember right."

He turned to look up at her from his position still kneeling on the floor. Kairi looked troubled now, her mouth set into a grim, hard line. "…You don't think he was looking for you, do you?"

Axel met the eyes of the woman who he remembered kidnapping in a life that hadn't been his own and offered her a pained smile. He briefly wondered what she'd think about that if he were to tell her. "He might have been. We'll never know for sure."

Later that night when Axel finally made his way home and found himself tuning out Saix' constant grumbling, his thoughts wandered back to Roxas and Xion. They'd been his best friends, Roxas especially being his everything. He'd come to the only conclusion that seemed to make the most sense. Roxas had obviously recovered some of his past life's memories – searching for Axel proved that…but Xion…

She had killed Roxas in a jealous rage, before ending her life shortly after. The Xion he had known would never do something like that…so it was obvious she hadn't remembered.

He sighed into his bowl of fried rice. Saix hadn't even noticed he wasn't listening.

Was it okay to mourn people who you had never had the chance of knowing in your present life, but had loved and treasured in a past life? Axel supposed he'd never know. Because Xion had believed Roxas was going to cheat on her, and had done what she did – they'd all lost the chance of finding each other again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Six.**

Roxas looked down at the blister pack of little blue pills in his hand and promptly hurled them across the room. It wasn't satisfying in the least, the offending square of paperboard and aluminium foil only making a slight clatter as it hit the wall across from him. He stared over the ten, perfectly packaged blue pills and _glared._ It was like the medication was mocking him…just like everyone else would, if they found out.

Sighing in aggravation, Roxas pulled himself to his feet and headed for the shower. If he ever saw that bastard, Vanitas again, he was going to punch that stupid smirk off his face until he'd have to get reconstructive surgery to put it back on.

He should've known that _dick_ would cheat on him – should've known the asshole couldn't keep it in his pants, and now Roxas was left to deal with the aftermath. He now had a condition that he would have to deal with for the rest of his life.

People were always telling that classic joke; everyone knew it – the Vegas one. ' _What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas – except herpes. That shit'll come back with you,'_ and yeah, Roxas had always laughed at it too, had always thought that only dirty scrubbers got genital herpes, _not_ people in committed relationships….like him. He and Vanitas had been dating for a while, and he'd never even thought to use condoms, especially when he'd trusted the prick! Now he was paying for his stupidity.

Turning the shower on, Roxas raked a frustrated hand through his short, blond spikes and immediately stepped into the spray. It was still cold. He was fiercely determined to go out tonight with Hayner and have a good time, and just blessedly forget all the bullshit. He was trying so hard to keep positive about it at all, he really was, but there was only one thought swirling around his head, and it wasn't a hopeful one.

Who would want to be with him now?

-0-

Roxas was drunk. Very drunk. Somehow he'd gone from grinding up against faceless, sweaty nobodies in a flashing light, pulsing, nightclub downtown with Hayner, to suddenly finding himself somewhere very quiet – and sucking face with a complete stranger.

He moaned anyway, stuck his tongue further into the other man's mouth and pressed his hips forward into the hard, firm body of his supposed catch for the night.

The man moaned onto his lips, his hands sliding down Roxas' chest, around his hips and grabbing firmly at his ass. Oh man, he felt hot, and _damn_ was he hard. He hadn't had a fuck since Vanitas, and he was _definitely_ not missing him.

"Come on, baby. Bedrooms this way…" The man whispered into his ear, before grabbing up his hand and pulling him away from the wall they'd been leaning against. Roxas finally got a good look at the guy and decided he liked what he saw, _a lot._ Red, _red_ hair, fashioned into long, cascading spikes ( _definitely dangerous looking_ ), green eyes that burned with an inner fire ( _so damn sexy_ ), and were those tattoos on his face?

Roxas breathed out a moan and let the man lead him along further into the apartment. The man was _so_ his type – well built, _strong,_ and _wow,_ that smile...The sexy redhead was ticking all the boxes and Roxas was already fumbling his way out of his jeans.

Unbidden to his mind, his sister's voice managed to penetrate through his drunken, woozy, sex-addled brain.

" _You need to tell all of your sexual partners from now on. You don't want to pass it on…"_

"… _Fuck…"_

"That's the idea, sexy," the man chuckled in front of him, and pushed open a door that revealed a large bedroom, the bed itself immediately drawing Roxas' eyes as he tried to figure out what to do.

He was feeling a lot more sober now and idly wondered what his face looked like because the guy he was supposed to be _divulging all_ to, suddenly turned to him, concern apparent on his face. He gently grabbed Roxas by the shoulders. "You feeling okay?"

Roxas' mind raced. _God,_ he did _not_ want to do this _at all!_ He looked up at the tall man, offering him a watery smile. He swayed lightly on his feet. It was now or never! He had to tell this gorgeous, sexy man standing in front of him that he, _unfortunately,_ had _genital herpes…_

The man looked down at him expectantly, his eyebrows raised, just waiting. Much to Roxas' chagrin, he didn't seem to be intoxicated in the slightest. He seemed like a nice guy, so maybe he wouldn't take it so bad? Wouldn't look at Roxas with disgust and revulsion on his handsome face – wouldn't insist that he should leave…

"…Yeah," he finally managed to speak. "It's just that…"

"Yeah…?" The man breathed, leaning down to press an encouraging kiss to Roxas' lips.

"Er…what was your name again?"

Still clutching at his shoulders, the redhead promptly burst into raucous laughter. "Oh, that's gold! I thought you were gonna tell me you were a virgin or something!"

Despite the lead weight settling into the pit of his stomach, Roxas managed to laugh along, too. "Yeah, sorry. Thought it might get awkward if I yelled out 'Dave' or something later."

The man laughed again and pulled Roxas firmly against him, his hands sliding slowly down his back and squeezing at his hips. "Forget Dave, you'll be screaming _Axel_ by the time I'm done with you…"

Roxas grinned, but inside he was thinking, _shit._ He couldn't do it. He didn't have the guts.

"You…You've got condoms right?"

Axel grinned at him, and started pulling him over towards the bed. Roxas was lost.

"Course I do. Now forget all that and let me get you out of those clothes…"

-0-

In the morning, Roxas honestly felt like crying. He was indulging the mother of all hangovers, his mouth tasted like arse, and his guilt at not being honest with Axel was _eating him alive._

Axel was currently dead to the world beside him in the bed, his mess of spikes falling handsomely over his shoulders and obscuring half of his face. He was indeed very handsome, and had been an amazing lover. Roxas knew all too well how one night stands worked…but there was a very big part of him that wanted to see Axel again.

He scrubbed at his hair wearily and knew without a doubt it was pointless. If Axel knew the truth, he'd never want anything to do with Roxas again. They'd used condoms, and Roxas hadn't let him give him a blow job, but there was still a level of risk in what they had done last night that could've put the guy in a _very_ compromising situation.

Crawling quietly out of the bed and gathering his clothes, Roxas looked over at Axel one last time before he went to get changed in the living room. He'd done something that was morally wrong, and he'd always feel bad about it, but at least Axel wouldn't ever know…

Down on the street, Roxas called himself a cab to take him home. As soon as he got there, he showered and cleaned himself up a bit. He begrudgingly washed down one of the little blue pills with a glass of cold water and shoved the whole mess, that was the death of his sex life, to the back of his mind.

Grabbing his bike jacket off its hook in the entryway, Roxas pulled on his boots and grabbed the keys to his Honda CBR, and stepped out of his apartment.

He really needed to clear his head. A ride on his bike would do him a world of good.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Very loosely based off the Australian miniseries – _Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms,_ which in turn is based off true events. If you want to have a look at Aussie culture and boganism firsthand, check it out :)

* * *

 **Seven.**

Kicking his Harley Rocker up a gear, Axel gunned it down the lone stretch of highway, thick bush flanking the dusty road on either side. It was hotter than usual today, the Australian sun burning directly overhead and heating the bitumen underneath his wheels to blistering new temperatures.

He hadn't bothered to grab his helmet, and now he found himself mildly regretting it; the sun's heat being so relentless, he felt like it was burning right through his wild, red spikes and straight into his half-cooked brain. A strong wind pulled at his sweat soaked shirt, and flapped his patched, leather vest around his shoulders. The aviators hiding his emerald eyes slid down his nose just enough to annoy him as he kept his speed constant, the engine of his bike thrumming and roaring beneath him.

Axel was on his way to the clubhouse, but he would much rather be heading anywhere else at present. He knew what was waiting for him there, and it was something he just wasn't ready to face. _Ever._

It was no small understatement to say that Axel was a powerful man. He was the leader of one of the biggest Comanchero chapters this side of the border, and absolutely no one would be fool enough to mess with him or his brothers.

Except for one.

Roxas Halliday had been a thorn in Axel's side for some time now. They had been mates once, the best there was, but that had all changed the day Roxas had questioned Axel's leadership.

They had been like brothers – they ate and drank together, fought and lived side by side, and shared the same ideals, but that had all meant nothing in the wake of Roxas' blatant disrespect. Axel hadn't wanted to turf him out, but in the eyes of his men this would only be seen as weakness, and that was the one thing Axel could never afford being.

When he'd been ordered to get out and hand over his patch, Roxas' eyes had burned with his anger and shame. Embracing his newfound loathing of Axel and all that he stood for, Roxas had left and defiantly started his own chapter, purely to rival his old club. Thus, the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Club was now a force to be reckoned with; its young, ruthless leader not one to be taken lightly.

That was something Axel had always taken for granted with Roxas. He hadn't had to worry when Roxas had been on his side, had been his right hand man…but now that his ex-best friend was the rival leader of his chapter's biggest threat, things had only gone from bad to worse.

A lot of good men had been killed in the ongoing feud. The Comancheros and the Bandidos had been at war for two years now, with still no end in sight. Axel had tried to stop the madness, had tried to persuade his brothers to back down, but they never would. It was their honour and code on the line. If a Bandido ever so much as walked past them on the opposite side of the street they wouldn't dare hesitate to retaliate. If they backed down or turned a blind eye – if they didn't fight to protect what they stood for, then what the hell did they live for?

In all honesty, Axel was tired of it. Years ago it had all been good fun. Drinking and fighting over a game of pool, selling guns and drugs right under the copper's noses, and all the comfort and luxury an outlaw club could offer. Now his mates – his brothers in arms were dropping like flies, and there was blood staining all of their hands.

Roxas never wanted to talk, couldn't even be in the same room with him without pulling a knife, and this had been a major part of Axel's problem. He needed the fighting to end, some sort of truce needed to be set in stone. They couldn't go on like this, but the ever vengeful Roxas would never see reason without force…and that is exactly what Axel had resorted to.

He'd planned a stakeout, and it had miraculously paid off. Roxas had been ambushed outside of his home. Axel's men had thrown a hessian sack over his head and forcefully taken him to the Comanchero clubhouse. Now Axel would finally end this, once and for all.

-0-

Roxas spat at Axel's feet and glared daggers up at him from his position on the floor.

"You worthless piece of shit. Can't fight me like a man, you gotta send out your little fucken' tag team to come jump me and threaten my family." He sneered. "You _fucking cunt."_

They stared at each other wordlessly as Saix, Axel's right hand man, stalked across the room, grabbed Roxas by the front of his shirt and decked him clean across the face.

"You watch your fucking mouth, runt. Remember who you're talking to."

He threw him back down on the ground, Roxas coughing once and raggedly wiping at his mouth. Blood and spittle spattered over the wooden floorboards.

Axel sighed, rubbed at his forehead wearily. "I just want a truce between us, Rox. I'm tired of sending my brothers out to die by the hands of your men, just because you've got a personal vendetta."

Roxas pulled himself up into a sitting position. His eyes were hard when he looked back up at Axel.

"You should've thought about that the day you hung me out to dry." A malicious smirk twisted his features. "I will _never_ forgive you."

The words stung and Axel knew Roxas would know that. Being a president of a club himself, Roxas would understand perfectly the kind of pressure Axel was under. He was being foolishly stubborn, and it was going to cost him his life…

"If he refuses to cooperate we could use him for negotiation. His men _will_ want him back," Zexion said from over at the bar, his head still buried in the book he was reading. He didn't even look up as the rest of the members' present looked in his direction, the entirety of the proceedings playing out in front of him obviously found wanting.

"We could make them hand over their territory."

"Just kill him. He has no further purpose," Marluxia spoke up from Axel's left, the pink haired man leaning up against the club's pool table, his arms folded across his chest.

"Aw man, do we have to?" Demyx burst out, his face clearly showing his discomfort at the idea. "He used to be one of us – I don't wanna see that."

Axel went to speak but Xigbar cut him off.

"But he ain't one of us," the older man bit out, staring down in disgust at the renegade sprawled at Axel's feet. "Think of Xaldin and Luxord for chrissakes. He's got our brother's blood on his hands. He's a problem and he has been for too long. We can't just let him go now."

Apparently agreeing with Xigbar's conclusion, the only female member of their club, Larxene, stood from her place by the door and moved over towards her president. She pulled her Beretta out from the inside of her jacket and without further ceremony, handed it to Axel.

A cruel smirk curling her lips, Larxene stayed standing by Axel's side and coldly scrutinized Roxas, who was still looking defiant as all hell, from his place on the floor.

"Cut the head off the snake, and the body will be left in its death throes."

The whole room fell silent, everyone's eyes now pinned to their leader.

Axel hesitated, feeling the weight of the handgun heavy in his hand. "This…is gonna create one helluva shit-storm."

Xigbar snorted. "We'll deal with it. They're a bunch of fucken' soft cocks without him and Hayner around anyway. Put him down, Ax."

Axel knew Hayner had been taken out a week before. It was a major part of the reason why Roxas had been so easy to nab. His palms felt sweaty now, but even so, he flicked the safety off the Beretta and pointed it at Roxas' face – right between his eyes.

Why…had it come to this…?

There was something else no one had ever known about him and Roxas. Something Axel had kept hidden all this time.

Roxas hadn't just been his best mate…he'd been his –

"Shoot me, _Axel._ It should be easy for you – you've already stabbed me in the _back_." Roxas' deep blue eyes were staring up at him, and Axel could see everything hidden in their depths. All the anger and hurt – the sadness…and fear.

He couldn't do it. He lowered his hand.

"Fuck's sake, this is ridiculous."

Her patience all but non-existent, Larxene wreathed the Beretta out of Axel's slackened grip. She didn't even hesitate, cocking the gun at Roxas' head and firing point blank.

Axel didn't even flinch as Roxas' blood splattered across his face. His body was thrown backwards, but Axel could still see Roxas' brilliant, blue eyes staring up at the ceiling – blank and unseeing.

In that moment, Axel's entire world came crashing down around him.

Inside, he felt as dead as Roxas.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** When I was a kid, we called juice boxes – 'Poppers'. It was a common brand in Australia, back in the day.

* * *

 **Eight.**

Roxas was sixteen years old, and the world was ending. _Someone_ had just thrown a _frozen_ juice box at his head and the world was _flipping ending._

Well, not really, but he was halfway through his melodramatic, angsty, teenage years and he literally knew no other way to be, and the juice box now lying innocently on the concrete next to him had really, _really_ hurt!

Just _peachy._ Now he'd have another suspicious bruise on his face and his mum wasn't likely to let it go so easy this time around.

Groaning lightly from the pain now radiating from the rapidly growing bump on his right temple, Roxas looked to the side and already knew who he'd see standing there. Larxene and her two halfwit lackeys. Even as he glared her down, she made no qualms about letting him know she had been the one to 'peg the popper', so to speak; standing there with a malicious grin twisting her features. She made the shape of a gun with her hand and mimed shooting him, then blowing the smoke off the barrel.

The two dipshits flanking her – Marluxia and Axel, both started laughing, obviously enjoying his reaction. Roxas rolled his eyes and once again buried his face in his book. He was so sick of this bullshit. He had no idea what he'd ever done to the tall, blonde bitch, but Larxene was relentless in bullying him. Marluxia was pretty much the same as her – just a spineless, ass-kissing prick, and Axel…how could Roxas forget him?

Axel was probably the _worst._

It hadn't always been like this – they'd all been good friends at the start of the year, especially him and Axel, but kids are cruel, and Roxas messed up big time.

He'd made sure he'd been alone when he'd hesitantly convinced himself to try on the sleek, black pair of heels that were used as a costume prop in the drama room. He'd always been curious, and that's all it had been really. But stupidly for him, Larxene and Marluxia had been wagging their science class and were looking for somewhere to hide. He hadn't thought to lock the door and they'd walked in and seen everything, their eyes immediately drawn to the patent pair of pumps currently adorning his feet. If that hadn't been mortifying enough in its own right, they'd even been on time to witness Roxas execute a neat little turn in front of the floor length mirror.

He didn't know if what he'd done meant that he was gay, and he found he really didn't care all that much. All that he _did_ know was that the heels had made his knobbly, skinny legs look slim and defined. All he'd thought at the time was that they really looked good on him, and Axel, his best friend, who had burst in looking for him seconds before Larxene and Marluxia followed, had stared at him with a strange gleam in his eyes, his face flushing a red so dramatic it fairly nearly rivalled the colour of his hair.

Roxas had thought Axel rather liked him in heels, too.

It didn't matter why he'd done it in the end. To save face, Axel no longer wanted anything to do with him, and Larxene and Marluxia had tormented him ever since. It didn't matter if he'd liked how he'd looked and felt, because from that day on he was only ever known as a –

"Oi, faggot. You're in the wrong uniform again today," Larxene called, loud enough for a couple of girls sitting close by to go quiet and stare.

"Yeah, where's your heels today, you fucken' poofter?" Marluxia added his ten cents.

Roxas waited, but like usual, his former best friend never contributed to the name calling. Sure, he laughed along with the rest of them, but he never quite seemed to have his heart in it. Roxas would be pushing it to say Axel's behaviour looked like an act, but some of it had to be genuine… otherwise he wouldn't be on their side…

Sighing, Roxas turned back to his book and studiously ignored the three of them. When he'd first started coming home with bruises – a dead, resigned look in his eyes, his mum had immediately tried moving him to a new school. His dad though, would have none of it.

" _The boy's too soft – he needs to learn to defend himself eventually. Who knows? A little roughing up might get his head out of those books and out of the house a bit more…"_

His dad hadn't known that Roxas had heard him, and his words had cut deep. He'd never said anything about it to them again, and the bullying just got worse and worse.

He had his back up against the wall of the library block with his knees drawn up to his chest. Larxene swaggered over and gave him a ruthless kick to the ribs, sending him sprawling across the concrete.

The two girls, who had been watching with wide eyes, now hurriedly gathered their things and scampered off.

"Look at me when I speak to you, you little _shit._ " Larxene wreathed the book out from under his fingers and flung it into a nearby rubbish bin.

Well, shit. Now he was pissed and things were only going to head downhill from here. Man, of all days for Hayner to be sick as well – the one day he decides he wants to start fighting back…

"I don't have to listen to anything you say, you stupid slut!"

Larxene actually took a step back, her face clearly showing her surprise. For a second she floundered to speak. He'd never retaliated before, but now that he was unleashed, there was no stopping the flood gates from bursting wide open.

"So what if people call me a homo?" He said, his expression turning smug. "At least I'm not the school bicycle."

Larxene's face went impossibly red.

"Hold his arms."

Ominously, Marluxia and Axel started making a beeline towards him, Roxas rapidly shuffling backwards, still seated on the ground. The side of his head still throbbed, and Larxene's brutal kick had winded him. Now he was a little bit afraid, and more than a little frustrated. Why was this shit always happening to _him?_

He tried to find some sense from the only person he had a chance with. "Come on, Ax, don't you ever get tired of hanging around these two assholes?"

Axel's face didn't change in the slightest, his voice hard. "Better than hanging around a faggot."

Instantly, Roxas' anger spiked again. _Fuck this._

"At least I'm not in denial!"

Axel and Marluxia both froze, the pink haired boy turning to look at his friend's horrified face.

"What's he talking about, Axel?"

Axel spluttered. "Nothing! He's talking shit, that's what!"

Roxas scoffed and rolled his eyes. Hell, he'd come this far, why not go the extra mile?

"If you're not a fag yourself, then I'm a monkey's uncle."

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Larxene and Marluxia had both turned on their friend, their faces' mirror images of disgust. Axel just stood there seething, his green eyes dark and dangerous as he glared over at Roxas. His fists were shaking down by his sides.

Feeling smug, Roxas gingerly picked himself up off the ground without adding a single word. He turned on the spot and began walking away. He'd have to come back for his book later… Hopefully they wouldn't empty the bins between now and the end of the day's classes.

He got as far as the top of the stairs leading down into the soccer field when he learned firsthand that he should never have turned his back on Axel.

The breath was slammed out of his lungs as a large foot booted him square between his shoulder blades.

There was no time to catch himself, no time to even shout. The next thing he knew, his arms were windmilling uselessly, and his body was suddenly tumbling down two flights of concrete stairs like a broken, china doll.

-0-

There was no hiding the bruises this time.

A broken arm, a fractured collarbone, three cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder. One of his eyes wouldn't even open. The bruises and scrapes were the least of his worries. He moved away then, transferred to a new school. His mum had finally had enough, and his dad had kept strangely silent through the entire debacle.

Years later, when he wasn't so angry anymore, Roxas liked to think back on it and picture Axel's face. Not so much the boy's embarrassed fury before he'd promptly kicked him down the stairs, but more the colour of his brilliant, green eyes when they had met his own in the floor length mirror the day that it all started.

He found himself wondering – what could have been, if things hadn't turned out the way that they did?


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Attack of the two-day hangover coupled with some brutal night shifts made this a bit delayed! This one was so hard to control on word count. I was trying to keep all of these little stories under 1500, but this one is just over 2000. Ah well! I got to the end of writing this and thought – God damn, this is depressing. I'M SORRY! The happy ending is coming :)

* * *

 **Nine.**

Axel huffed and flicked off the wireless, shaking his head slowly in sheer disbelief. What the hell was the world coming to these days – when kids were booting other kids down two flights of stairs? Unbelievable! Back in his day, things like that just didn't go on.

Luckily for him, Axel was on his way out. He had reached the wizened, old age of 87 and now, more than ever, he was certain that this was the year he'd be knocking on the big, pearly gates.

He wasn't sad about it though – his age and all of the _lovely_ limitations that went with it, providing him with a lot of time spare to come to terms with his impending mortality. There wasn't much for him to get upset over these days, butif the nurses placed one more meal in front of him that was solely comprised of carrots and beans, so help him _God,_ he'd be gladly helping himself get there sooner, rather than later. Even at his age, he still _loathed_ vegetables. It might not sit so well in his stomach anymore, and the mozzarella would get all stuck in his dentures, but Axel would gladly take a meat lover's pizza over that mundane, healthy crap any day of the week.

Axel had been a resident at _Everybody's Home_ for going on seven years now, which was a care facility for the elderly. May as well have been called _The_ _Nobody's Home,_ as Axel was all but certain his family had moved on with their lives without him. He hadn't had anyone come to visit him in two, long years. He couldn't help feeling a little dejected, but his three children were old themselves now, too, and his grandchildren had all grown up into fine, young adults. They had their own lives to live, and Axel couldn't fault them for enjoying their time to the fullest; especially when that was something he'd already experienced.

No, at the end of the line he found himself content with the fulfilling life he had lived and all it had offered him. He was still genuinely happy and somewhere, hidden underneath all of his wrinkles, and his tired, aching bones, there was still that charismatic 21-year-old, confidently making his mark on the world. The home wasn't really _that_ bad a place to live out the rest of his days, and they always treated him with respect and looked after him. Despite being content with his current situation, Axel was still ready to go on to the next adventure – no matter what that might entail for him.

Already so late in the game Axel rarely bothered himself with entertaining any of his past grievances, but recently, something had really started troubling him…

One, last, _lingering_ regret – and that regret just so happened to be living six doors down the hallway, in a room similar to his own.

Back in the 1950's, when Elvis was still king and the best cars weren't foreign made, Axel was a cool, young thing with charming good looks and long, wild red hair. He'd taken to the greaser style effortlessly; his leather jacket and sunglasses, two items on his person he never left the house without.

One, fine, warm evening, he'd taken his girlfriend at the time to the yearly county fair. They had happily wandered through the fairgrounds, her small, petite hand on his arm as they took in all the familiar sights and tried their luck at a few carnival games. When they stumbled upon a small, purple tent wedged between the toilet block and a shoddy, children's merry-go-round, his lady had stopped them outside the front of it instantly, her interest obviously piqued. Axel had always operated under the impression that all psychics were scammers but to _appease his squeeze,_ he'd agreed to let the gypsy woman inside read his fortune.

His girlfriend had pushed him in on his own and he still distinctly remembered feeling uncomfortable. The way the older woman had looked at him with her piercing amber eyes had easily unnerved him. She'd gazed hard at his palms and deep into his eyes before spinning him an elaborate tale of a life he had once lived and lost, where he'd been a good man named 'Lea', but through no fault of his own had fallen prey to the machinations of heartless monsters. Despite becoming a heartless man, the gypsy told him he had found his saviour – a boy with no heart himself, who had blond hair like spun gold, and eyes the colour of tropical seas. This boy had made him feel whole again, and their destinies had become forever intertwined. A tragedy had befallen them but they had promised each other to always meet again in their next lives and find happiness – no matter how long that might take.

The gypsy urged him to look for the boy, that they were meant to be as one. She felt a resonance inside of him and said his heart, and the heart of the boy were calling out to each other – he didn't have time to waste. The heartless boy, who had loved him despite all odds, was waiting, and Axel would surely know him when he saw him.

Although he'd been severely creeped out, Axel hadn't bought into the gypsy's fairy tale at all. If anything, he'd been mostly irritated at the woman seemingly questioning his sexuality. He'd stepped out of the tent and breathed a rather large sigh of relief before laughing and shoving a comb through his wayward spikes. He'd found his girlfriend again and then simply forgotten all about it. Years passed and he'd never once spared another thought for the gypsy and her little purple tent.

That is, until the day he met Roxas.

Roxas Halliday was five years Axel's junior, but had been living at the care home a lot longer than him. The short, quiet man mainly kept to himself and rarely ventured outside of his room, so a few years easily managed to sneak past them before their paths finally crossed.

Axel would always remember that it had been a coolish day in early October, when he walked into the dining hall and found his eyes instantly drawn to a small, shrunken man sitting off to the side against one of the far walls. A young girl sat beside the man with shoulder length, pale blonde hair.

There wasn't anything remarkable about him, or the girl for that matter, but Axel had paused in the doorway, unable to tear his eyes away. Feeling perplexed he ventured closer. Even in his old age, Axel had never been a shy person. The young woman was talking quietly, but as he approached she broke off abruptly and turned to him, a curious expression on her face. Axel paid her no mind, moving to stand directly in front of the smaller man who was sitting silently and staring down at his wrinkled hands resting in his lap. The man's boyish, good looks had long since faded, his blond hair now pale white, but as soon as he looked up at Axel, all he could see was brilliant, sapphire blues, and almost as if a switch had been flicked he found himself recalling the old gypsy's shabby, purple tent and her ridiculous tall tale.

Sensing someone standing over him, the man had wordlessly raised his head. There was a brief moment of hesitation as they stared at each other, a subtle widening of the smaller man's eyes, and then he was speaking.

" _Axel?"_

Axel reeled back in shock, almost at the same time that the young woman did, too. His memory was flawless – he was positive he'd never met this man before in all of his life, and yet he was drawn to him; those fathomless blue eyes drinking him in, as if they were looking into his very soul. The man's voice was fluttery and paper thin, but he still heard the raw truth in it. Underneath all those wrinkles…he was still that golden-haired, heartless boy.

" _R-Roxas!?"_ He'd gasped, the young woman beside Roxas now bracing a hand against the smaller man's forearm. She was trying to regain his attention, but he was still staring up at Axel, a look of confusion slowly bleeding across his face.

"Yes…that's me," Roxas mumbled up at him, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Who…who…are…y-you?"

Axel had finally found the boy he'd forgotten about and now it was a little too late to be making amends. Roxas was in the final stages of Alzheimers, his crippling dementia stealing his memories, and robbing him of his basic motor skills. He needed help getting around and suffered from aphasia, the two main reasons for his hermit-like existence at the home.

Namine, Roxas' granddaughter, came to visit him regularly, and Axel and she became good friends. She was the one to explain to him that Roxas had more bad days than good days, hence her initial shock at hearing her grandfather speak so clearly. When he'd spoken to Axel, that was the most coherent Roxas had been in months. She asked if they had been old friends? Axel had just smiled and said – _"Something like that."_

After that first meeting, Axel began to spend a lot of time with Roxas, even if the quiet man never remembered him. On some level, Axel was sure that Roxas sensed some sort of familiarity between them because he would often shuffle his way out of his room in search of his friend, and his smiles always seemed to be wider whenever the taller man was by his side.

Roxas was like a child trapped in an old man's body. Sometimes he would laugh with Axel or sing to him, other times he'd just sit and cry, or scream out hysterically. It was a scary thing – being a stranger in your own head. The nurses were always patient, and so was Axel. Every now and then he would have periods of lucidity where he could interact with Axel on a more understandable level. In his quiet, slow speech, Roxas would tell him about his family and friends, or his travels when he was younger – anything he could recall; all precious memories that still lasted for him. Axel would share with Roxas the same, even when the smaller man wasn't quite _there;_ he still told him everything about his life – the life Axel thought they really should have spent together.

On particularly hard days for Roxas, Axel came to realise that whenever his friend's mind was distant he almost seemed to exist in an alternate reality. He would mumble things about ' _heartless'_ or ' _Sora',_ and long winded grumblings about going on missions. Axel could only assume that this was all from the past life they had shared together.

He never questioned what his friend was seeing, he only wished he could remember more of it, too. One, terrible morning he'd come across Roxas crying quietly in his room. The smaller man had immediately pulled him into a fierce hug, his frail shoulders shaking.

" _I…killed her…Ax. I…kill…killed h-her…"_ Axel had held him close for a long time, willing his friend's heartbreak away. Come midday, Roxas had forgotten the entire thing, but Axel knew he never would.

" _Hurry…Ax, we'll…be…be late…for…the…the superior,"_ Roxas had told Axel one day, retrieving his coat from its hanging position by the door and handing it to him. Axel had just taken the offered coat and smiled before leading Roxas outside. They sat out in the garden looking over what they could see of the town in front of them, the sun slowly slipping beneath the horizon. It all felt rather nostalgic…

Roxas, in a rare state of lucidity had been mostly silent, but then suddenly, he'd turned towards Axel with his eyes mischievously bright.

" _Hey…Ax?"_ He stuttered, Axel squeezing his hand reassuringly, giving his friend time to find the words _. "B-bet…you…d-don't know…why…the…the sun…sunset is…red?"_

Axel wasn't really sure why he reacted the way that he did, but one minute he was staring at Roxas with wide, surprised eyes, and the next he was pulling the smaller man into his arms; mournful sobs wracking his slender frame.

He made up for lost time as much as he could, but deep inside, his heart still ached. Roxas' condition was rapidly deteriorating, and he was literally dying right in front of Axel's eyes. Their time had run out again.

Axel stopped eating.

-0-

Axel stared up at the ceiling and drew in a long, deep breath. His time had finally come, but everything was going to be okay…because Roxas was right beside him.

Closing his eyes, Axel slowly turned his head to the side, only to open them again as he looked over at the man lying in the bed beside him.

Feeling his gaze, Roxas turned to look at him, too. They were both silent for a time, just quietly studying each other's faces. The room around them seemed to melt away then, and suddenly, Axel could see past all the wrinkles and the taxing effects of old age, to the golden-haired boy underneath, whose sapphire, blue eyes still shined out at him. All he could see was the boy he should've had the chance to love. He wondered if Roxas could see him the way he used to be, too – with his long, spiked, red hair, the sharp tattoos on his cheeks, and the vivid, daring light in his emerald, green eyes.

As he watched, Roxas, still eternally young, slowly brought one of his arms up towards his chest. The look in his eyes was intense as his gaze never wavered from Axel's own. He pressed a hand unweathered by the ravages of time over his heart, his words only just above a whisper.

"Do you…feel…that…?"

Axel instinctively raised his own hand to his chest and pressed through the soft fabric of his shirt until he could easily feel the slow, calm beating of his heart resonating against his trembling fingers.

He gave Roxas a weak nod, his expression solemn. He knew what the heartless boy was referring to…what they had gained in this life, and now…what they had lost.

Roxas looked so sad. All Axel could see was his own regret mirrored back at him from Roxas' sorrowful eyes. "I…waited…a long time, Ax."

Axel slowly reached across the gap separating them, silently asking for Roxas' hand. "I know…I'm sorry I found you too late."

Roxas extended his hand, too, and his bony fingers clutched tightly around Axels. They squeezed as hard as they could, just finding comfort in knowing that at least at the end they were together.

Roxas looked so tired then, and the memory of him as a youthful boy slowly faded until all Axel could see was a frail, old man again.

"Again…we'll…try again…" Roxas smiled, looking over at Axel one last time, his eyelids lowering.

Axel felt his own eyelids fluttering closed, his breaths long and deep as if he was simply falling asleep.

"Yeah…see you…partner…"

They closed their eyes for the last time.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** These were all very angsty, weren't they? Haha. I tried to come up with original ideas I'd never read before, so I hope you guys all liked the variety too. I know what you kids are thinking – where's all the love and sexy times? I know, I'm surprised at myself too, but don't worry, I've got a fair bit on the way, so check my future fics. It was a lot of fun brainstorming all of these, but like promised here's the happy ending! Get comfortable – this is a whopping 8000 words long…

A quick note for transparency – Roxas' car is right hand drive.

* * *

 **The Thrill of the Chase.**

Roxas could see Xion's fingers trembling as she fumbled to get her pack of cigarettes open. She managed to clasp one and draw it out, only to snap the tobacco off at the filter in her haste to bring it to her lips. " _D-Damn it!"_

Roxas dragged in a deep breath. He let go of the steering wheel and reached over and grabbed her hand in his, interlacing their fingers together tightly. Her green lighter was trapped between their palms. He squeezed hard, trying to reassure her, even though he was more than certain he was feeling far worse right now. "You've got to stay calm, Xi."

Xion turned to face him, tears already swimming in her eyes. "But, if they catch us – if he recognises you –!" She choked and gripped Roxas' hand harder, her voice strangled with her burgeoning fear.

Roxas just squeezed back just as hard and looked back up into the rear view mirror. Xion didn't have to finish her sentence – they were both thinking the same thing. If the police officer currently dismounting his motorcycle behind them recognised Roxas, then he was going to go to prison for a very long time.

"It'll be okay," Roxas heard himself say distantly, his eyes still trained on the copper slowly making his way towards them. The officer was already making a beeline for the driver's side window of the white Commodore they were currently sitting in and Roxas could feel the man's eyes burning holes into the back of his head. _Shit_. Of all the times for them to get pulled over, they just happened to have 500 grand's worth of methamphetamines stashed in the boot.

And that wasn't even the _half_ of it. The car itself was stolen, so were the plates. Roxas had an unregistered Beretta shoved down the back of his jeans – Xion had another in her handbag. Add all that to his current rap sheet and Roxas knew he was looking at hard time if the long reach of the law ever caught up with him. He might have been lucky up until now, but seeing the inside was now a very real possibility, all because he hadn't been paying attention to his speed.

Xion was silent now, sitting rigid in her seat, her knees pressed tightly together. Warily, she turned and peered through the rear window of the car, her grip on Roxas' hand almost numbing his fingers.

Roxas could hear the blood rushing in his ears. The police officer had nearly reached his window, the early morning light glinting off of the man's open-faced helmet and sunglasses. Roxas wet his lips, and tried to steel himself – his stomach churning unpleasantly. He looked back at Xion and his mind was made up. It wasn't going to end like this, not when they'd come so far.

This was their last job and then they were going to get out of this life. There was no way in hell they could afford being caught out now.

It took just a split second for Roxas to come to his decision – he was _not_ rolling his window down.

He shook Xion's hand out of his forcibly, making her jump in fright; the green lighter falling and clattering against the middle console. He gripped the gear stick so tight he felt the plastic strain and groan as he jammed it back into drive, his foot slamming down on the accelerator. Taken by surprise, the police officer staggered away from the car as the engine roared and the tyres spun, Roxas gunning the Commodore away from the kerb and shooting back out onto the road.

" _What are you doing!?"_ Xion yelled, bracing herself against the car door and holding on for dear life.

"Cut the _shit_ , Xion! You said it yourself! If they catch us, we're done for!" The Commodore reached a turn at maximum speed, Roxas braking minutely before flinging them around the corner, the screech of the tyres reverberating through the empty streets and silent buildings. It was always advantageous to complete their jobs in the early hours of the morning; when traffic and pedestrians on the streets were limited and it was easier to find alternate routes in the oft chance the police were awake and active. Every pro in the business knew that pigs loved their sleep…except of course, the one they'd unexpectedly run into.

"We could've played it cool!" Xion was not convinced; her face the very picture of panic as Roxas swerved around another corner, barely managing to manoeuvre around some poorly positioned roadwork signs. "Maybe he wouldn't know your face –!"

Roxas barked a laugh, his hands strangling the steering wheel, "Are you being _serious_ right now? They've had a mugshot of me up in every cop shop this side of the country since I was 20!" He cut down a couple more side streets before lurching back out onto a double lane, main road. So far so good…they weren't being followed. He glanced over at Xion, his eyes hard as he merged over into the far lane. He slowed his speed right down, trying to blend in with the sporadic morning traffic now surrounding them. "I am _not_ going to prison, Xion – not when we've come this far."

A sudden flash caught his eye and Roxas' head jerked up and to the side, his stomach twisting. The motorcycle cop was pursuing them, his lights and sirens blaring. He was still a far ways back but it wouldn't take him long to catch up. _Fuck,_ they never chased anymore – high speed chases were considered too dangerous to attempt, so they usually just called in the number plate. This guy obviously hadn't got the memo – he wasn't backing off in the slightest. It was like bloody Robocop himself was after them.

"Fuck, he's following us – _fuck!_ " Roxas stomped the accelerator pedal back down to the floor, shooting the Commodore forward at full throttle and scarfed wildly around another vehicle in front of them.

Xion twisted in her seat, looking back out behind them, one of her hands braced against Roxas' seat. " _Oh, my God_ …Can you lose him?"

Roxas kept his eyes on the road, both hands locked around the steering wheel, his sweaty palms slowly losing grip, "Maybe…but he's gonna call for back up, if he hasn't already." He turned to Xion and met her fearful gaze, his mouth drawn into a hard line. "You gotta take him out."

She gasped, "What!? Roxas, _what are you thinking!?_ We've never killed anyone before!"

"Don't kill him; just get him to back off!" His eyes were wild, begging for her to understand, " _Please,_ Xion! You _know_ how much this will set us back if we fuck this up!"

Xion squeezed her eyes shut, a choked whimper escaping her lips. "I know – _I know!_ Oh, God…"

Roxas gunned the Commodore down an exit ramp, the motorcycle in hot pursuit still manoeuvring around other vehicles to get closer to them. Thinking fast, he took a sharp right and raced into a nearby housing estate where the streets were still empty, the occupants of the houses lined up on either side only just leaving their comfortable beds.

"Aim for his front tyre. If that doesn't get him to stop, it'll at least slow him down."

Xion gave him a shaky nod before reaching down between her legs with tremulous fingers and delving deep into the depths of her handbag. She retrieved the Beretta 92 and settled it firmly within her right hand before winding down her window. Wind immediately whipped their hair around their faces, Xion hastily raising her left hand and shoving her short, black hair out of her eyes. Her safety belt already unclicked, she twisted around and kneeled in her seat, her body now fully turned around to face the road behind them. Just as she was hanging her right arm out of the window, the police officer screamed around the corner, the menacing red and blue lights of his motorcycle still flashing ominously. Xion sucked in a breath and concentrated hard. She steadied the Beretta and took careful aim.

Roxas forced himself to focus on getting them out of there, the dark steel of Xion's gun caught in his peripherals. He told himself not to care. They seldom had to resort to using their firearms and most of the time the weapons were just for show, but getting caught just wasn't an option Roxas could easily entertain. If the law didn't mess them both up, then their boss definitely would. There was one thing he knew for certain right now and that was the job had to be completed – no matter the cost.

 _Pam!_

The sharp sound of the gun firing was whipped away by the wind still howling around them as Roxas took another corner, the Commodore hurtling deeper into the quiet streets of suburbia. A carefully planned operation such as this one running into complications was a real rarity, but in their line of work it wasn't necessarily uncommon. Roxas was loathe to admit it but he'd never been so careless before and it was all because he'd senselessly let his guard down. He was just so relieved in knowing they'd finally saved up enough money between the two of them, it was all he'd focussed on. Finally, this last delivery would be what put them over the line.

Like so many jobs before, all they had to do was move a few kilos of Ice over a couple of borders, making sure to deliver it quickly and discreetly, and they would be on the home stretch. Private investigators didn't come cheap, and Xion and Roxas had promised each other to do whatever it took to find Axel again.

Any means necessary, they had to find him…Roxas had waited long enough.

 _Pam!_

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Xion fired another shot, "He's not slowing down at all!"

Roxas didn't answer, his eyes flicking up into the rear view mirror. He was convinced the police officer pursuing them wasn't human, or was possibly just lacking in the common sense department. He was simply swerving around Xion's hesitant fire and gaining on them relentlessly. If anything, the man seemed to have significantly increased his speed.

"Hurry, Xi – focus," Roxas ground out, his eyes darting forward again, a single bead of sweat now sliding slowly down the side of his face. They were speeding along a good, straight stretch of road now and Roxas hoped Xion would have a better chance at catching the motorcycle's front wheel. She needed to take the shot before they were swerving through narrower, winding streets again and if _Robocop_ had already called for backup, then they were running out of time.

Fiercely grabbing the Beretta with both hands, Xion braced herself against the window frame and lined up her next shot. No more games now, they both knew they had to end it. Roxas' whole body tensed – the pressure building.

 _Pam! Pam! Pam!_

Roxas' eyes flew back up to the rear view mirror just in time to see the motorcycle swerve dangerously from side to side as the police officer tried in vain to avoid Xion's volley of bullets. The last one _finally_ managed to connect, smashing into the front wheel of the bike and critically obstructing one of its axles – instantly sending it veering out of control. Roxas unconsciously lowered his speed as the impending crash seemed to unfold behind them in slow motion. The police officer desperately tried to save himself from going over but it was too late, the motorcycle tumbling and smashing into the road, a violent flurry of metal and plastic exploding in every direction. The man himself was flung high into the air, his limbs flailing like a rag doll before he was unceremoniously slammed down hard into the bitumen. On impact his sunglasses flew off his face and his open-faced helmet was ripped from his head, a brilliant mess of vivid red hair tumbling out.

And then suddenly, Xion was screaming.

"STOP ROXAS – IT'S AXEL! _IT'S AXEL!"_

Roxas' brain spluttered to a halt. Without thinking he rapidly slammed his foot down on the brake, the car skidding and screeching to a stop. The abrupt change in momentum catapulted Xion out of her seat, ramming her back into the car's dashboard. She cried out in surprise, shunted onto the floor under the glove box. Roxas looked over at her desperately, his eyes bright and wild. " _What?"_

Not waiting for her answer, he was already swinging the car around, unmindful about being on the wrong side of the road. Roxas knew she wouldn't lie about something like this – could it _really be_ – !

Xion shakily hauled herself back into her seat just in time to see the carnage firsthand as Roxas brought the Commodore level with the twisted remains of the motorcycle. Its rider had been thrown some distance away and was clearly too heavily injured to still be conscious. As if moving in a dream, Roxas had already flung himself out of the car and was making his way over to the broken man sprawled on the road – and there, lying on his back in a bloodied, crumpled mess was Axel – The Flurry of Dancing Flames. He had the same sharp features, framed by his trademark fire-red hair – even his inverted triangle tattoos were in place below his eyes. Roxas could instantly imagine the intense emerald green hidden behind those battered eyelids, which made it all the more surreal that they had finally found him…only to accidentally kill him.

" _No…"_ Roxas whispered, unable to tear his eyes away, even as Xion came up behind him and tried to pull him around to face her.

" _Roxas!"_

Roxas knew Xion was speaking to him – was grappling at his arms, but he couldn't hear a thing over the oceans roaring and crashing in his ears. He threw her away from him and clenched both fists into his hair. "I've killed him….I've _KILLED HIM!"_

Xion tried to pull him away again but he fought her off near hysterical, everything else around him fading out until all he could see was Axel, broken on the ground – so impossibly _still,_ with blood on his lips and cheeks _._ He stumbled forward and fell to his knees at Axel's side, his fingers trembling so badly he nearly ended up hitting him in the face as he clumsily felt underneath his chin for any sign of a pulse. There was one agonising moment where Roxas couldn't feel anything at all but then – _yes!_ There was the beat of Axel's heart fluttering weakly beneath his fingertips.

"X-Xion…" Roxas looked up into Xion's terrified expression, a single tear escaping and streaking down his cheek, "He's still alive…"

Xion clapped both hands to her mouth, her tears falling fast as she choked out a relieved sob, "Oh, thank God – thank _God!_ "

They smiled at each other, savouring a moment so surreal they had only ever known it in their dreams. Roxas was still kneeling with his hand on Axel's neck and Xion stood close beside them. She fluttered her hands over her cheeks, wiping away her tears. They easily forgot where they were, just losing themselves completely in their relief and happiness.

Axel wasn't dead, and they had _finally found him._

The far off cry of wailing police sirens suddenly snapped them both out of their shared reverie. Xion instantly looked petrified; Roxas knew he probably looked the same.

Thinking fast, Roxas shot to his feet and staggered over towards Xion. He grabbed her firmly by the shoulders, just managing to stop himself from shaking her in his desperation. "Take the car and finish the job – I'll stay here with Axel."

" _What?_ But, Roxas – !?" Xion was shaking her head frantically, reaching up to clutch at Roxas' hands.

Now he really did shake her. The sirens were getting closer; they didn't have time for this. "I _know_ , but it's okay! Now that we've found him, we won't have to do this anymore – if we just finish this job, then we can _get out_. The coppers don't know your face, so you need to go! If I stay here it'll help take the heat off you."

Xion searched Roxas' eyes for a second longer, her look of fear slowly melting into one of hardened determination. She nodded once before leaning forward to press a swift kiss to Roxas' cheek. Hurriedly, she pushed herself away and dashed back towards the idling car.

"I won't give in!" She called out to him in reassurance, slamming the driver's side door closed a minute later and gunning the engine. Roxas watched her tear away from the kerb and swing the car around, the Commodore hurtling down the road before disappearing out of sight.

The sirens were louder now, maybe only a block away, but Roxas still sighed with relief. As long as they didn't catch Xion, everything would work out okay.

Yes, he'd most definitely be going to prison now but it was a small price to pay for finally having Axel back. From what he could see, Axel was badly injured, but hopefully he'd be strong enough to pull through. Roxas once again lowered himself to his knees beside his long lost friend's prone form and gently brushed some of his wayward spikes out of his face. "I kept my promise, Ax. I won't lose you again." The sirens were now blaring all around him, drowning out all other sound. He didn't even bother looking up at the myriad of squad cars suddenly surrounding him.

Roxas' eyes wandered over Axel's familiar features one more time, a joyous smile pulling at his lips, right before he was roughly tackled to the ground.

-0-

Roxas and Xion's story was a peculiar one. Roxas had remembered his original existence first when he'd accidentally been smashed in the head by a rogue cricket ball. He had suffered a severe concussion and woken up in hospital only feeling more confused and anxious when the nurses and doctors kept calling him _Michael_ ; when he knew without a doubt that his name was _Roxas._ Fortunately for him, it didn't take him long to make sense of it all and he'd immediately started his search for the people from his previous life that had meant so much to him.

Now he could _feel_ and he so desperately wanted to experience this new beginning with Xion and Axel by his side. As he searched for them, Roxas had more than enough time to question the latent feelings and emotions he'd been harbouring all along for his fiery best friend. He'd been mildly surprised that his feelings of friendship had grown into something deeper but he surmised his new heart really had no reason to lie. He even started to wonder if maybe Axel had always felt the same for him, too.

More than a little discouraging, Roxas had also realised there was a slight possibility Xion might not even exist in this new life at all, considering she'd only been a puppet with a fabricated soul. Despite all of his worries and fears he never lost hope that one day Axel and Xion's lives would realign with his own again.

But once he realised that the people he had previously known would be reborn into this world with different names like him and possibly different appearances, he knew it wouldn't be such an easy task to find them. So when he'd randomly stumbled across Xion working in a second hand bookstore he'd literally fallen over in shock. Her name had been Sarah, but she'd looked exactly how Roxas remembered her from back when they'd simply been XIII and XIV. He'd already started styling his blond hair in the upward, spiralled spikes he was more accustomed to having and that coupled with his familiar blue eyes had Xion remembering him instantly when she first caught sight of him. They had been near inseparable ever since. It hadn't taken them long to piece together the rest of their buried memories.

They'd searched everywhere for Axel from the very beginning but after so many years of looking with no results they finally came to the conclusion that if their friend did exist here with them, he was either on another continent or had a new appearance and name. Xion hadn't wanted to get involved in the lifestyle Roxas had suggested, but once she'd seen how much money they could make and so quickly, she'd begrudgingly agreed to go along with it. It was a sure fire way to make cash faster than more socially acceptable occupations available to them and that's what they needed more than anything. They needed to utilise whatever resources they had at their disposal to find Axel quickly – before it was too late to start over again.

Roxas' notorious reputation preceded him and even without the proof that he had been involved in the high speed altercation that had nearly killed an officer of the law, the crown still had enough against him to put him away for five years. Countless drug related offences, grand theft auto, possession of an unlicensed firearm, burglary and assault – Roxas had certainly made a name for himself in the last couple of years since he and Xion had found each other and he'd always kind of known that his lifestyle choices would eventually catch up with him. He had his fair share of regrets like any other person but since it had ultimately led to them finding Axel within two years of actively searching, now when he looked back on it all – it was definitely worth it.

Ironically enough, just three days into his five year sentence, Roxas had already been worrying about his height (or rather, lack thereof), his boyish appearance and his subsequent status as fresh meat in the criminal hierarchy when he'd run into none other than Xigbar, The Freeshooter – Number II. Xigbar had actually recognised him immediately and had even more surprisingly been happy to see him. Roxas knew they hadn't exactly been friends while in the organisation together but they definitely hadn't been enemies either and it was comforting to see a familiar face all the same. Xigbar had already been inside for a number of years and literally no one had the guts to mess with him; so naturally, because Roxas was an acquaintance of his that also meant no one was game enough to mess with him either. He never thought he'd be so happy to see the scar-faced nobody again and now, miraculously, he wouldn't have to become someone's bitch just to make sure he didn't get shanked over his dinner.

Xion had successfully managed to get away with the car full of Ice, but since he'd been immediately incarcerated from the moment of his arrest, Roxas had yet to actually speak to her. She'd managed to send him a purposely vague, cryptic text message to let him know she was alright, so that was something at least. He would have to find out the finer details later but for now he was just happy knowing that she'd made the drop successfully and hadn't been apprehended. He'd only been in prison for a month and was still yet to be allowed visiting privileges. Hopefully with a little bit of good behaviour and cooperation on his part, Xion would be able to come see him soon.

With his days inside passing at a snail's pace, Roxas became all too aware of how much spare time he now had to contemplate the many misdeeds that illustrated his life. He often found himself thinking back on the crimes he had committed and all the good lives he had had a hand in ruining. He felt remorseful, but perhaps not as deeply as he genuinely should. Since he was yet to see Xion he hadn't heard anything in the slightest regarding Axel and he was near dying to know what had happened to him. Surely he was still alive and had recovered some from his injuries by now. Was he curious about the circumstances surrounding his accident? Was he angry about it – or to be more specific, was he angry at Xion and him for what they had caused? Did he actually _know_ he was chasing down a car with his best friends from a past life inside? Had Axel been searching for them too, or were his past memories still buried? The hundreds of questions with no forthcoming answers that he turned over every day inside his head were starting to drive him mad.

"Oi, Halliday – you got a visitor," one of the wardens drawled, snapping him out of his thoughts. She opened the door to his room all the way and stood waiting, framed in the doorway. Roxas couldn't really call the room that was assigned to him a cell; it was far nicer than anything he had expected. He shared with another inmate who was blessedly quiet and clean and if it wasn't for the fact that he wasn't allowed to leave, it would have just felt like he was staying in a backpacker's hostel.

He sat up on his bed and swung his bare feet down onto the floor, shuffling along the mattress towards his prison-issue velcro shoes. He hurriedly shoved his feet into them and stood up ready to go. He had only just been awarded visitation rights two days prior, so naturally he was stoked to be seeing a familiar face. It could only really be Xion though, since his family at large no longer associated with him. That was fair enough. When he'd regained his original identity and 'woken up' he couldn't have cared less about the hollow relationships he'd made in this life before that cricket ball had smacked into his head. The only people that mattered now were Xion and Axel – they were the only ones he needed.

"Sweet," he answered the warden, already in higher spirits. "Who is it? Is it a woman?" He didn't want to say Xion's name specifically, lest he inadvertently throw her under a bus.

The warden, a middle aged, haggard looking woman who was nice enough but whose name always escaped him just smiled slyly and chaperoned him out of his room and further down the long hallway. "This isn't a conjugal visit, Halliday. You haven't been in long enough yet for that kind of privilege. You'll have an hour to talk. That's it."

Roxas wasn't fazed in the slightest. Any time with Xion would be grand. It felt like too long since he'd seen her and felt her small hand held tight within his own. He might not have been romantically attracted to her but she was still incredibly important to him.

The warden led him down a series of hallways, escorting him out towards the designated rooms where daily visitations were held. Without another word he was ushered towards a small, white-walled cubicle with a plain metal desk in the centre and two hard, plastic chairs. "I'll be in to get you when your time is up, otherwise just bang on the door if you're finished earlier."

Roxas nodded and thanked her while she swiftly opened the reinforced metal door to the small room beyond and allowed him to step inside. Initially he'd thought the room empty, the door he'd just passed through immediately snapping shut behind him as his eyes instantly fell upon the bare metal table and the two empty chairs. Not a split second later his eyes were drawn up and over to the left as he fully became aware of the other person standing in the room.

It wasn't Xion.

He'd been looking down at his shirt, picking at a piece of fluff on his sleeve when Roxas' entrance promptly captured his attention. Axel jerked his head upwards, his emerald green eyes completely unguarded and for one, brief moment they were filled with such an intense, mournful longing it took Roxas' breath away. Roxas went completely still and blinked rapidly a few times; but next when he looked he was no longer sure if he'd been imagining it or not because now Axel's face seemed carefully blank. Axel righted himself from his reclined position against the opposite wall, his movements clumsy and slow as one large hand fumbled with a single crutch that was propped up on the wall beside him. Roxas could just make out through the baggy jeans he was wearing, Axel's left leg from thigh to toes was enveloped by a rather bulky looking plaster cast; his left arm also sporting a similar cast of its own and his fingers still heavily bandaged. Roxas quickly scrutinised the rest of Axel's condition noticing the small, half-healed cuts and grazes marring his arms, neck and face.

Roxas' fingers twitched down by his sides and he unconsciously shifted a small step forwards. It would be so _easy_ to just launch himself across the two metre space dividing them and finally pull his long lost friend into his arms, but he told himself he had to wait. There was still a high possibility that Axel was only here because he wanted to see the man who was the reason he had broken bones – not because he remembered what Roxas had once meant to him. Roxas felt wary, yet hopeful. Surely Axel remembered _something;_ taking into consideration that the man's hair was an obviously dyed red and the tattoos under his eyes were identical to when he'd been a nobody; it couldn't just be a convenient coincidence. Roxas opened his mouth to speak but Axel beat him to it.

"Michael Halliday, my name is Ashlee Jones." Bracing himself against the crutch, Axel steadily plodded over towards Roxas and proffered his uninjured right hand. "You might not remember me, but I was the police officer involved in the motorcycle accident the day you were arrested at the scene."

Axel stood a mere three feet away now, still holding out his hand for him to shake but all Roxas could do was just stand and stare, his arms remaining slack down by his sides. He snapped his mouth shut, his jaw clenching hard. Axel had called him _Michael_ – had said his own name was _Ashlee_. If he was introducing himself like that, then there was no way he remembered! Roxas' heart slowly sank into his ugly, prison-issued shoes. He didn't even try to hide his distress as the silence between them lengthened considerably; Axel's expression becoming more uncomfortable by the second, his hand still held out between them. Roxas felt utterly defeated. Axel didn't remember him – didn't remember who they used to be…but he couldn't give up now, not when he was standing right in front of him after all this time. Maybe, just _maybe,_ Roxas could help him to remember.

Breathing in sharply, Roxas shot Axel a hesitant smile and finally moved to take his outstretched hand. He squeezed it firmly, almost sighing out loud in contented bliss. Just simply touching his friend's hand already had him feeling more confident. He'd had to work hard with Xion to awaken all of her memories and unfortunately with this sudden turn of events, Axel was shaping up to be no different. All that really mattered was that he was living and breathing right here and right now and even if Axel left here without remembering him, Roxas could still find him when he got out and try again.

"I could never forget you; not in a million lifetimes," he murmured up at Axel, a small, sad smile lifting at his cheeks. He stepped just that little bit closer, invading Axel's personal space and there was that expression on the taller man's face again; only this time it was far more intense. Roxas' heart thumped hard against his ribs. "…But no one calls me Michael anymore – please, call me Roxas."

Axel's eyes widened instantly, his hand all but crushing Roxas' fingers still caught within his grasp. He made a brief choking sound deep within his throat and then suddenly pulled sharply, dragging Roxas hard against him.

" _Roxas!"_

Taken by surprise, Roxas gasped and clutched at the front of Axel's shirt. " _A_ - _Axel?"_

Axel's other arm with the plaster cast on clumsily wrapped around his shoulders and held him tight; Roxas swiftly repositioning his arms to encircle Axel's waist, now positively desperate to return the embrace. Axel's crutch clattered loudly to the floor at their feet.

"I couldn't just come out with it, I didn't know if you remembered me or not," Axel breathed into his hair, his cheek resting on the top of Roxas' head. Some things didn't change at least, their difference in height still remarkably the same.

Roxas said nothing; simply buried his face in Axel's chest, breathing in his scent and revelling in the faint, steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Such a perfect sound – something he'd never felt such joy in listening to before now. Seven long years he'd been waiting for this exact moment – to finally hold Axel in his arms again.

"I've waited so long for this," Roxas whispered, his arms pulling Axel in closer. "I remembered when I was 16 and from then on I always looked for you. Sometimes…I'd lose hope, but Xion never wanted to give up."

Axel froze. "Xion?" He pulled away slowly, obviously reluctant to break their contact so soon. He rested his hands on Roxas' shoulders, his vivid green eyes searching his face. "You've already found her?"

Roxas nodded, his arms loosely holding Axel around the waist, their feet still touching. "I found her by chance when I was 19. Her memories were still hazy for a while, but she recognised me on sight." At mention of Xion, Roxas' expression changed dramatically. He suddenly remembered all too clearly the exact circumstances that had put Axel in his current state; his guilt returning tenfold.

"I – I'm sorry that we hurt you. If I'd have known it was you –!"

Axel shook his head sharply and cut Roxas off, "Hey, no need to freak out, okay? Yeah, I'm a little beat up but I'm right here." He flashed Roxas a reassuring smile. "I'm not going anywhere."

Roxas' shoulders sagged in sharp relief and he smiled back winningly; the light in his eyes returning. Axel's easy forgiveness meant more to him than his friend would ever know.

Now grinning from ear to ear, Axel cocked his head at the table and chairs beside them. "Sit. I wanna show you something."

Begrudgingly, Roxas stalled for time and slid his hands around Axel's hips before releasing him altogether. He retrieved the forgotten crutch from the floor and pressed it into Axel's open palm. Once he was certain Axel wasn't going to lose his balance, Roxas swiftly fell into one of the empty chairs. He looked up at Axel eagerly, his hands clasped on the table in front of him. "If I wasn't stuck in this shithole, I'd be able to show you some stuff, too. Xion and me have been living together."

Axel rolled his eyes skyward, "I can only imagine what a mess _that_ place must be." He moved over to the other empty chair with some measure of difficulty, the awkwardness of his broken leg slowing him down. He braced a hand against the table before shakily lowering himself into the seat across from Roxas.

"Hey, I keep it tidy enough! Xion's the one with her make-up and crap spread out everywhere." Roxas hadn't known it until now, but he'd really been missing this kind of banter. Axel had literally been in his presence for all of five minutes and it already felt like how it used to be – as if time and death had never had power over their lives.

Axel's familiar crooked smirk was all the answer Roxas needed.

Carefully laying the crutch down on the floor beside himself, Axel dug around in the right back pocket of his jeans and withdrew his mobile phone. He swiped right to unlock and quickly began searching for something; his eyes darting over the small screen.

Roxas sat quietly and tried to contain his impatience, one of his knees jiggling relentlessly underneath the table. Despite the cheery smile still curling his lips he felt his anxiety spike briefly at no longer feeling Axel's body heat melding with his own. As if sharing his thoughts and realising Roxas' inner turmoil, Axel quickly found what he was looking for on his phone and smacked it down on the table between them.

"Have a look at this." He pushed the phone over to Roxas and set it directly in front of him, immediately grabbing at one of Roxas' hands still resting on the tabletop. His smile widening, Roxas complied and laced their fingers together. The simple reassurance of Axel's touch was all it took for him to feel grounded again.

"What is it…?" He murmured, squeezing Axel's fingers affectionately. He finally focussed his attention on what had been placed in front of him. There on the lit screen of the phone was a candid photograph of Axel standing with another man Roxas didn't recognise. He leaned forward slightly and studied the picture intently. Both men had been caught halfway through a bout of raucous laughter; one of Axel's arms slung around the other's shoulders, his head thrown back carelessly. Roxas was entranced. Although it was undeniably Axel in the picture, the only thing that looked vaguely familiar about him was his startlingly green eyes. Everything else seemed different. His hair was a short, mousey brown and there were no dash tattoos under his eyes. He was also considerably younger, perhaps still in his teens; his features boyish and soft around the edges.

Roxas knocked his knee against Axel's leg, taking care not to bump his broken one and squeezed at his hand again. "Cool. I've never seen you looking so… _youthful_. How old are you here? Late teens?" He'd only ever known Axel looking the way that he looked now, so seeing a picture of him so much younger was a real novelty in itself.

Axel knocked Roxas' knee right back, trying his hardest to look offended and failing miserably. "Damn brat..." He leaned over the table and swiped at the phone's screen again, bringing up another photograph. "These are all of me before I remembered."

The new image was of Axel sitting alone at an outdoor setting in someone's backyard. The table in front of him was a cluttered mess of empty beer bottles and cans; Axel himself was shirtless and flipping the camera the bird, his lips trapping a lit cigarette. He was still young in this shot too, his messy brown hair throwing Roxas off completely.

"It's funny cause before it all started coming back to me I used to look at my face and think that something was really off about it but I could never figure out what." Axel sat back in his seat and shifted his legs into a more comfortable position. He stretched them straight out in front of him, one of Roxas' legs now caught in between. Roxas could feel the heat from Axel's jean clad thighs already seeping through his thin cotton pants and warming his skin. He definitely wasn't complaining about the proximity.

"There's _still_ something off about it," he teased, pressing his thigh more firmly against the other so near to his own. Even as Axel snorted and shook his head in reply to Roxas' blatant jab, he instantly returned the touch and pressed closer too. Roxas' heart fluttered pleasantly.

"I ended up joining the police force straight out of high school and it's pretty lucky I did. If I hadn't seen your picture plastered up everywhere at the station I might have never remembered."

Roxas jolted in his seat; his wide eyes meeting Axel's incredulously, "My…my _mugshot!?_ "

"Yeah, you delinquent," Axel grinned ruefully, playfully ruffling at Roxas' hair. "You've been in the top hundred most wanted for the past three years now. I used to stare at your face on the wall and wonder where I'd seen you before. At first I thought maybe we'd gone to school together or something, but your name just sounded _wrong._ I couldn't go two minutes without having another look – I even took one of your posters home."

Axel held Roxas' gaze, his green eyes sparkling, "I didn't get _why,_ but I couldn't let it go. I knew I _had_ to remember…and then the crazy dreams started. It took a few months after that but I finally remembered _you_ and Xion, and being a Nobody, and Kingdom Hearts! A lot of other stuff really started to make sense, too. I practically skipped my way over to the nearest tattoo parlour to fix my face when the rest of it came back to me." He laughed, "Probably wasn't one of my brightest ideas, though; nearly got me kicked off the force."

Roxas threw back his head and laughed, his shoulders shaking with mirth. "Well, you never _were_ known for having much personal restraint."

Axel just gave him a nonchalant shrug, "It certainly explained why I like fire so much."

"I never would've thought you'd end up being a copper in this life. How ironic is _that?_ " Roxas mused out loud.

Axel scoffed, "Yeah, talk about making it hard for me, Rox! I wanted to find you and talk to you – to see if you remembered me too, but it wasn't exactly easy with you being a bloody _fugitive_."

Roxas glanced away with a sardonic smile on his face. "We…We were on a job when you were trying to pull us over. I already knew with my track record I'd be facing the music sooner or later but I really didn't want Xion doing time as well."

"I didn't even realise that was her in the car with you – I only realised it was _you_ when I nearly drew level with your window. Why do you think I was coming after you so hard? I got my arse _reamed_ for engaging in a high speed chase without radioing in first for authorisation."

Roxas grinned and rolled their joined hands to the side, their palms now facing upwards. He held Axel's fingers loosely and braced his other arm along the tabletop. "I _did_ wonder about that actually – thought Robocop himself was after us."

It was Axel's turn to laugh; the sheer, joyful sound of it bouncing around the small room. "Wouldn't be the first time I've heard that!" Despite the exuberance of his outburst, Axel sobered quickly, his expression turning serious. "You're not a bad kid, Rox…Why get mixed up in all of this shit?"

" _Kid? Really?_ What are you, like three years older than me?"

Axel shrewdly raised an eyebrow and just waited; his eyes narrowing. Roxas sighed explosively and scrubbed his free hand through his hair. It wasn't really something he wanted to get into. "I guess…I just got tired of waiting. I wanted to hire a private investigator to help find you and they're not exactly cheap." He met Axel's eyes stubbornly. "It was the quickest way I could think of and I didn't want to run out of time. I'll be damned if I was gonna let this life turn out like the last one."

"Wait, so that means…you're in here because of me…" Axel murmured, his eyes shifting away, expression pained.

Roxas snorted, his face breaking out into a wide grin. "Don't be an idiot, Ax; didn't you play the martyr enough in our last life? I've always been a bad kid; it just took them a while to catch up with me. Maybe I wouldn't have ended up here specifically but I would've gotten myself into somewhere just as bad eventually, without any of your influence."

Gripping Roxas' hand tight, Axel smiled wearily and lifted his eyes to the ceiling, as if in silent prayer. " _Christ almighty,_ please tell me Xion's at least got _her_ shit together this time around. You two are gonna be the death of me."

"Sorry," Roxas chortled, "I know Xion and me can be a handful." He leaned forward in his chair; his leg shifting minutely against Axels. "I'm glad you came to see me…" Blue eyes warm, he slowly disentangled their hands and trailed his fingertips along the life line on Axel's palm. "If I'd had to wait till I got out to see you again, I would've lost my mind."

"We promised, didn't we?" Axel said quietly, his fingers gently curling around Roxas' wrist. In his previous life, Roxas _had_ managed to experience some semblance of sensation when he'd just been a Nobody, but now that he was whole – _nothing_ compared to this. He'd never felt anything like it. The piercing green of Axel's eyes, coupled with the subtle press of his fingertips against Roxas' bare skin was intoxicating. His heart started beating just that little bit faster…

"You know…I remember how you used to make me _feel –_ back when we had no hearts, but this…this is something else entirely." Axel's hand slowly crept up Roxas' arm, subtly pulling him in closer. Roxas shivered; the air between them suddenly charged.

"…What do you feel…?" He whispered, all resistance gone as he gave in to the emotion he had always suspected was there. Axel didn't need to answer; Roxas knew they were feeling the same thing.

Axel now drawing him forward by his elbow, Roxas leaned out of his chair and braced both hands on the table. Breaths heavy, he slid his eyes closed and without a moment's hesitation, pressed his lips to Axel's. Everything was so terribly still; except for Axel's hands lifting to gently frame Roxas' face. There was subtle movement, a flick of a tongue and then Roxas was hungrily pressing forward; Axel reciprocating in kind.

 _Bang, bang, bang._

They both started in surprise and jerked away from each other, the door directly behind Roxas slamming open. It was the warden. "Halliday – times up."

Roxas stood upright and turned to face her, his hand blindly searching for Axel's behind him. _Shit_. How could they be out of time already?

"Roxas." Axel hurriedly struggled out of his own chair and stood too, unconcerned with his crutch still lying on the floor. He slipped his hand into Roxas' anxious grasp and tugged firmly, encouraging him to turn back around. "Things are gonna be different this time around, I promise," he whispered fervently, the thumb of his right hand brushing across Roxas' cheek.

Roxas quickly stepped into Axel's arms, holding him close. He couldn't be sure how long it would be before they saw each other again. Not for the first time he felt that regretful tug at his heart for putting himself in here.

Five years was such a long time…

"When I get outta here, it will be. We can make a fresh start."

Axel lifted Roxas' chin and sealed their mouths together one last time.

A firm hand suddenly gripped Roxas' shoulder, steering him back towards the open door. Axel's fingers dragged along Roxas' forearm, one of his hands quickly pressing a small, folded piece of paper into Roxas' palm. They held each other's gaze for as long as they could before Roxas was shunted back out into the hallway, the warden unceremoniously slamming the door closed behind him. "Let's go," she threw over her shoulder, already moving ahead of him to lead him back to his room.

Once again lying on his bed, Roxas slowly unfolded the note Axel had given him. _Ashlee Jones,_ was scrawled front and centre, with a short address following directly underneath. Roxas smiled. He realised that even if he hadn't had his memories intact, Axel had still planned on keeping in touch with him.

He'd have to send him a letter…

A police officer and a crim starting a relationship certainly wasn't your usual run-of-the-mill fairy tale, but Roxas couldn't have cared less about what anyone else thought about them.

 _Finally,_ their happy ending was only just beginning.


End file.
